


Sapere Aude

by verhalen



Series: Northern Lights [15]
Category: Multi-Fandom, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, Worldweavers - Multiverse
Genre: Alternate Universe - 21st Century, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Canada, Dreams and Nightmares, Elves In The Modern Day, Force Sensitivity, Gen, Humor, Iceland, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Magical Realism, Marijuana, Mentioned Maglor, One Shot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 15:56:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18369263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verhalen/pseuds/verhalen
Summary: In Toronto, Dr. Dagnýr Sigurdsson, Ph.D, has coffee and donuts with a "cool old guy" colleague, who he then invites over for dinner to discuss his latest research project (and to try to get his mind off worrying about his brother Sören).Chronologically falls between chapters 11 and 12 ofChains Of Eternity.





	Sapere Aude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Narya (Narya_Flame)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya_Flame/gifts), [Chantress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chantress/gifts).



> A tip of the hat to Narya for the name Brian Proust, which is also a certain someone's alias in her _Wanderer_ universe. :D

**June 2019**  
_Toronto, Ontario, Canada_  
  
  
He woke up with a shout, heart pounding, trembling, in a cold sweat.  
  
Dagnýr Sigurdsson looked at the clock - 4:37 AM, not yet time for his alarm to go off for work. He flopped back down on the bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down so he could get another near-hour of sleep.  
  
His husband, Matt Sulu, rolled against him and wrapped a protective, comforting arm around him. "Dag," he whispered. "It's OK."  
  
"Yeah. It was just a bad dream." Dagnýr patted him, and leaned into Matt's shoulder.  
  
He couldn't get back to sleep, and watched Matt sleep instead, envying his calm. When the alarm went off and Matt woke up, Dagnýr peppered his face with kisses. Matt had morning wood, and Dagnýr took care of it - he had to be at the university in an hour and a half, so there wasn't time for the more languid lovemaking he liked in the evenings, just a blowjob, while he stroked himself. But it was good enough, coming quickly after Matt spent in his mouth with a cry, toes curling.  
  
They showered together, partly for convenience, and partly so they could hold each other, get in what contact they could before Dagnýr had to busy himself getting ready. As Matt worked up a fine lather over Dagnýr's back, he nuzzled his neck and said, "You're awfully tense."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You're not normally this tense after you come."  
  
"I guess that dream rattled me a bit."  
  
When they got out of the shower, towelling off, Matt asked, "What was the dream about? Was it your garden variety PTSD flashback dream about your aunt and uncle?"  
  
"Not this time," Dagnýr said. "It was...  _odd._ " He frowned, wrinkling his nose. "I had a dream about Sören. He was in a forge, making something glass... and then he was driving from Reykjavik to Akureyri and there were these monsters chasing him, trying to kill him. Like... I don't know how to describe it."  
  
"Huh."  
  
"Yeah." Dagnýr shook his head. "Like, it's gotta be just symbolic, I'm worrying about him having another mental health episode..."  
  
"Yeah." Matt nodded, and patted him. "Just remember though, he's in good hands. He's got Dooku there to look out for him."  
  
"I know he keeps telling me not to worry so much, but I just... I do." Dagnýr's frown deepened. "And my therapist told me some of this is survivor guilt - I left all that shit when I was fourteen, to go to Oxford, my life has been a fucking  _cakewalk_  compared to what they went through, and you don't know how much I've beaten myself up over not doing more... like not telling them to come out and live with me in the UK, because I couldn't interrupt my studies..."  
  
"They don't blame you for that," Matt said.  
  
"I blame myself. It's better than it was, but." Dagnýr sighed. "Sören's my twin brother. My fraternal twin brother. I should have been there more than I was, should have... done... more."  
  
Matt hugged him, and Dagnýr clung. They pulled apart, reluctantly, to pull their clothes on. Dagnýr tended to dress down as much as he could get away with for his job - a dark blue tie over a lighter blue button-down shirt and navy chinos. Blue made his grey eyes pop more. He rubbed some gel in his short dark hair to tame the secret curls that threatened to show themselves on a foggy, drizzly day like today.  
  
Matt handed Dagnýr his wire-rimmed glasses, and Dagnýr mumbled " _Takk. Ég hefði gleymt þeim_ ," as he put them on.  
  
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you don't lapse into Icelandic very often, your mind must really be elsewhere."  
  
"God." Dagnýr facepalmed. "This is gonna be a day. I can already feel it."  
  
Matt hugged him again. "I know your past is always going to haunt you, but just remember." He took his husband's hand and kissed it, right above the wedding ring. "We're here, now. And we are the future." Matt took a deep breath. "I was gonna tell you this yesterday but you were kind of beat after the TED Talk - Nicole got back to us and made her decision."  
  
Dagnýr and Matt had been looking for a surrogate mother, and had found Nicole via an Internet forum. She lived in upstate New York, and was tentatively accepting offers; they had been talking with Nicole the last several weeks, including letting Nicole stay with them a few days last month so she could see what they were like. Dagnýr's eyebrows shot up.  
  
"She said yes."  
  
Dagnýr screamed, and hugged Matt tightly. "OH MY GOD. OH MY FUCKING GOD." Tears came to his eyes, and he and Matt laughed and cried together, as Dagnýr twirled Matt around. "I'm gonna have a baby." Dagnýr was to be the sperm donor. "We're gonna have a baby."  
  
"Maybe even two, since you're a twin and IVF tends to produce multiple births."  
  
"Oh god." Dagnýr wiped his tears. "If that's the case, I'm gonna name them... Hawking and Sagan."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"OK then." Dagnýr smirked. "Bill and Ted?"  
  
"What if one is a girl? Or both?"  
  
"They can still be Bill and Ted."  
  
"Someone needs to commute to work." Matt slapped Dagnýr's ass.  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Dagnýr kissed him hard, and then grabbed his keys. "OK, well, we can talk about this more when I get home."  
  
"Yes. By the way?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Your shoe's untied."  
  
Dagnýr facepalmed. "Thanks, ADHD," he said under his breath, before stooping down to tie his shoe.  
  
  
_  
  
  
Dagnýr taught physics at the University of Toronto. Today he had a lecture, which he wasn't quite in the mood for after giving a TED Talk yesterday, but he managed to get through it, and then he had a break before a couple of his students would be around for advisement.   
  
His mind kept going back to the dream that disrupted his sleep, and a haunted feeling he couldn't shake. He had to get a hold of himself before his students came by, so he opened his laptop and then opened the family chat server.  
  
Margrét was online, just getting up before her evening shift at the bar; Reykjavik was four hours ahead of Toronto.  
  
**[1:33 PM] Dagnýr:**  *poke*  
  
**[1:33 PM] Dagnýr:**  hey  
  
**[1:34 PM] Margrét:**  hey yourself  
  
**[1:34 PM] Margrét:**  how goes it  
  
**[1:35 PM] Dagnýr:**  It goes. I kind of had a crappy start to the day, but I'm managing.  
  
**[1:37 PM] Margrét:**  Aw, you need to talk about it?  
  
**[1:39 PM] Dagnýr:**  Yeah, actually, I'll DM you though.  
  
A moment later, he opened up private messaging with Margrét, away from the family server.  
  
**[1:41 PM] Dagnýr:**  You ever have weird dreams?  
  
**[1:44 PM] Margrét:**  My dude, all of us have weird dreams.  
  
**[1:45 PM] Dagnýr:**  No, I mean, like  _weird_  weird.  
  
**[1:46 PM] Margrét:**  Weird Weird? Is that Moon Moon's cousin?  
  
**[1:47 PM] Dagnýr:**  You're  _almost_  as bad as Sören sometimes.  
  
**[1:48 PM] Margrét:**  It's almost like we're related, or something.  
  
**[1:49 PM] Dagnýr:**  no wai

[Image: The "Dramatic Chipmunk" reaction GIF.]

 **[1:51 PM] Margrét:**  But anyway... please define "weird weird".  
  
**[1:53 PM] Dagnýr:**  Like, it seems symbolic AF, but it also feels like it's going to happen.  
  
**[1:54 PM] Margrét:**  Tell me about the dream.  
  
**[1:55 PM] Dagnýr:**  Sören was in a forge, and then he was being chased by alien monster things trying to kill him.  
  
**[1:56 PM] Margrét:**  Oh yeah, that's obviously you worrying about him killing himself or hurting himself in some way.  
  
**[1:57 PM] Dagnýr:**  You'd  _think_  so, but it felt real. And when the hell have you ever seen our brother blow glass?  
  
**[1:58 PM] Margrét:**  Hm, you're right, usually he blows other things.  
  
**[2:01 PM] Dagnýr:**  *facepalm*  
  
**[2:01 PM] Dagnýr:**  thanks I hate it  
  
**[2:02 PM] Margrét:**  listen I could have been talking about Sören blowing bubbles  
  
**[2:03 PM] Margrét:**   ~~totally now have a headcanon that Sören's pet name for Dooku is Bubbles~~  
  
**[2:04 PM] Dagnýr:**

****

[Image: Jack Black is holding a sign that says STOP next to Elmo.]

 **[2:05 PM] Dagnýr:**  ANYWAY, BACK TO THE DREAM  
  
**[2:05 PM] Dagnýr:**  You see what I mean now? I don't know what the fuck to make of it. Is it me worrying about my twin? Is it the Force showing me a vision of some kind? Both?  
  
**[2:06 PM] Margrét:**  I don't know. The closest I've ever come to what you're describing is...  
  
**[2:07 PM] Margrét:**  Actually, never mind, it's kind of lame.  
  
**[2:08 PM] Dagnýr:**  No, I want to hear it.  
  
**[2:09 PM] Margrét:**  You're a scientist. You're going to make fun of me.  
  
**[2:09 PM] Dagnýr:**  I'm your brother. I make fun of you regardless.  
  
**[2:10 PM] Margrét:**  :middle finger:  
  
**[2:10 PM] Margrét:**  OK so... when I was a teenager? When I was telling people I was really a girl on the inside, and wearing dresses and makeup, before I officially started transition?  
  
**[2:11 PM] Margrét:**  I had dreams where I was female.  
  
**[2:11 PM] Margrét:**  Except they were... how do I put this...  
  
**[2:12 PM] Margrét:**  They weren't 1990s Iceland. They were set another time, another place. They felt ancient. Like at the time, honestly, I thought it was Atlantis. I was the priestess of a sun god, and I was also married to him. There was another priestess he had, who was also married to him, and I was married to her.  
  
**[2:13 PM] Margrét:**  Those dreams... they comforted me. Whenever I'd have a really shitty day, I could go to sleep and go there, and have my happy little life with my husband and my wife and our temple and all the people we made happy.  
  
**[2:15 PM] Margrét:**  Just before my first suicide attempt, the dreams got dark. My husband was taken away. My wife was killed. There was a new sun god... a usurper.  
  
**[2:16 PM] Margrét:**  I was trying to warn people that there were now false gods who had overthrown the true gods, the real gods, and these false gods were preying on them, enslaving them. And then I was killed, and woke up in another body, in another world that seemed very ancient and far away - I was like an  _elf_  or something - and it was beautiful BUT everything was fucking  _wrong_. Like the world was cursed.  
  
**[2:19 PM] Margrét:**  In hindsight, it does seem very fucking symbolic of my struggle with gender dysphoria and depression and trauma and all the shit going on with me at the time. But it also felt like  _more_  than that, and sometimes I wonder if the Force was giving me a window into something that happened a long time ago.  
  
**[2:21 PM] Margrét:**  And the spookiest part? I never told Sören about the dreams but there's this painting he did... of me dressed up like that priestess.  
  
**[2:22 PM] Margrét:**  The fuck.  
  
**[2:23 PM] Dagnýr:**  Well... you know how I feel about ancient civilizations.  
  
**[2:24 PM] Dagnýr:**  And the concept of gods.  
  
**[2:24 PM] Dagnýr:**  And if aliens have visited us, and might still be observing us, and might be able to communicate somehow with people like you and I.  
  
**[2:25 PM] Margrét:**  Yeah, I do.  
  
**[2:26 PM] Dagnýr:**  Which, now that I think about it, doesn't really help me feel better about that dream I had.  
  
**[2:27 PM] Dagnýr:**  But maybe it's also the Force giving me a poke to start digging at something that's been bothering me for awhile, something that I really ought to find out for sure one way or another before...  
  
**[2:27 PM] Dagnýr:**  ...never mind.  
  
**[2:27 PM] Margrét:**  Never mind what?  
  
**[2:29 PM] Dagnýr:**  It's an announcement, I better make it in front of the whole family.  
  
**[2:30 PM] Margrét:**  :squint: Is everything OK?  
  
**[2:29 PM] Dagnýr:**   _Yes._  I'll... tell you guys later. I gotta go, my students are gonna be here soon.  
  
**[2:30 PM] Margrét:**  :squint: You can't just leave me hanging in fucking suspense for hours!  
  
**[2:31 PM] Dagnýr:**  Maybe I won't even mention it till tomorrow... muahahaha... ;)  
  
  
_  
  
  
After meeting with his students, Dagnýr went out to his car in the university parking lot. Matt wouldn't be home from work for awhile yet, and Dagnýr didn't quite feel like being alone, so he took a detour.  
  
Tim Horton's wasn't terribly busy right now - just enough people for Dagnýr to not be by himself, and there was one car he recognized in particular, a grey Volkswagen with a Grateful Dead bumper sticker.  
  
Brian Proust wasn't just a colleague of Dagnýr's - the calculus professor, and of course calculus and physics went hand-in-hand for aspiring astrophysicists, but Brian was a personal friend. The elderly man smiled as he watched Dagnýr walk in and get in line.  
  
Dagnýr got his usual coffee and Timbits and sat down at Brian's table.  
  
"Hello there," Brian said jovially. He was an expat from the UK, and still had an accent. "How was your class today?"  
  
"Eh, it was a lecture. I survived." Dagnýr gestured to the stack of papers. "Grading an exam, I see."  
  
"Indeed." Brian nodded. He took off his glasses, rubbed his face, and took a sip of coffee. "I'm not sure which of us is better off."  
  
"Neither am I." Dagnýr chuckled. He offered a Timbit to Brian, who declined.  
  
"I already had a muffin," Brian said. "Bran. Keeps me regular..."  
  
"Thanks for sharing," Dagnýr said, smirking into his coffee.  
  
"Well, it was also a reminder to you to get enough fiber in your own diet. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't care about your health?"  
  
"The kind of friend who, like, didn't need to tell me about the shits?"  
  
Brian's laughter rang out, and Dagnýr laughed too. "God, I needed that," he said.  
  
"I thought so," Brian said.  
  
Dagnýr raised an eyebrow. "I've been trying to look calm, cool, and collected all day. You know, professional." He sipped more coffee. "You psychic or something?" he teased.  
  
"I observed you fidgeting in line," Brian said. "I assume you have something on your mind."  
  
"A few somethings."  
  
"Well... out with it."  
  
"Nah, it's all right," Dagnýr said. "You have papers to grade, and..."  
  
Brian put his pen down, and folded his hands over the stack of papers.  
  
"Matt and I found a surrogate," Dagnýr said.  
  
"A..."  
  
Dagnýr had to remind himself that even though Brian was a cool old guy, he  _was_  from a different generation and probably needed this explained. "A surrogate mother. Because me and my husband, two kids, can't have biological children of our own."  
  
"Ah. I see." Brian nodded. "You didn't want to adopt?"  
  
"That's not outside the realm of possibility for later, but it could take up to two years for us to get matched with a child, whereas with this all we need to do is just, um... I donate the sperm and our surrogate is electing to have her eggs fertilized with IVF, so I could be a father by spring of next year. And adoption is kind of risky, if the government keeps moving farther to the right like what's happening to our neighbors in the south." He was referring to the US. "It's harder to take a child away from a biological parent."  
  
"There was no condemnation, only curiosity." Brian sipped his coffee. "From what I understand, anyway, the drive for blood to keep propagating is very strong."  
  
"You have kids?"  
  
"I have students, two cats, and a dog." Brian smiled. "I've been a bachelor all my life. Not much opportunity for children there."  
  
"Well..." Dagnýr smiled back. "Get used to being Uncle Brian for the kids." Dagnýr ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Uh, kid."  _Why am I speaking like it's gonna be more than one. Goddammit, Matt._  
  
_You were right the first time_  came into the back of Dagnýr's head, almost as if Brian was speaking into his mind, but he couldn't do that, could he?  
  
Brian's eyes twinkled as he sipped his coffee.  
  
"But yeah, I'm nervous and excited about being a parent," Dagnýr said. "The standard fears about kids, coupled with wanting them very much to have a better childhood than what I had... and the tinge of sorrow, thinking about my dysfunctional family."  
  
Brian knew a little about it, bits and pieces that Dagnýr confided. "There is no such thing as a perfect parent," Brian said. "You will make mistakes. But your heart is big enough that it will cover them well."  
  
"I hope so." Dagnýr sighed. "There's another thing that's on my mind, though, has been on my mind for awhile, actually, but in light of this new chapter of my family experience -"  _and that freaky-ass dream I had this morning_ "- it's... coming out from the backburner."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"It's a research project." Dagnýr frowned.  
  
"You're a scientist. You always have research projects."  
  
"This would be more personal than the stuff I've been doing the last several years. It's kind of stupid, actually."  
  
"I doubt that. If it's been on your mind a lot, it couldn't be stupid."  
  
"No, you're gonna think it's stupid. Trust me." Dagnýr gestured to Brian's stack of calculus exams. "You should get on grading those."  
  
"I have all evening and all of tomorrow off." Brian smiled into his coffee. "Do share."  
  
"Well..." Dagnýr leaned back, popped a Timbit in his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. Then he said, "You know I'm Icelandic, right?"  
  
"Yes, even though you sound like a native Canadian, you have a decidedly foreign name."  
  
"Yeah. I've lived here for close to a decade, and was in the UK before that, so I've had time for my accent to mellow out, but... I'm from Akureyri, small town in the north. Anyway..." Dagnýr's phone went off. It was Matt. "I gotta take this. Hello?"  
  
"Hey babe," Matt said. "I finished this job earlier than expected and I'm gonna come home early. What do you want for dinner?"  
  
"Dinner. Huh. I don't know." Then Dagnýr looked across at Brian, thought about him going home alone, and felt bad. "Hey, Matt, would you mind if we had a guest over?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Brian Proust."  
  
"Yeah, we could do that! He's a fun old guy." A pause. "I got some of the good shit, if he's interested."  
  
Dagnýr held the phone away and before he could open his mouth, Brian said, "The 'good shit', eh?"  
  
"God, you heard that?" Dagnýr chuckled.  
  
"It would be an honor to dine with you," Brian said, "and I am not choosy about food. Even having Kraft Dinner would be fine with me."  
  
"You talk about wanting to stay regular, you ain't gonna do that on Kraft Dinner alone." Dagnýr got back on the phone. "He's not fussy about food."  
  
"All right! I'll pick up, uh... some chicken... or something. See you in a bit."  
  
"Love you!"  
  
"Love you too." Matt made kissy noises.  
  
Dagnýr was blushing when he got off the phone. Brian smiled.  
  
"All right," Dagnýr said. "So... shall we finish up our coffee and these Timbits and you follow me home?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Brian gestured to the Timbits. "Maybe you should bring those home with you."  
  
  
_  
  
  
Matt set to work in the kitchen, while Dagnýr and Brian sat in the living room, drinking more coffee. They made small talk across the room with Matt about his day at work, and finally, when the chicken was in the oven, Matt ran down the hall and came back with a small bag of weed. Brian produced an old-fashioned pipe and did the honors of packing the bowl, then taking the first puff and passing the pipe, as he blew smoke rings.  
  
When the pipe was on its third round, after Dagnýr and Matt had survived a coughing fit and were already starting to feel the effects of the pot, Brian paused from his smoke rings and said to Dagnýr, "You were going to tell me about that research project that's been on your mind."  
  
"Oh? Research project, eh?" Matt raised an eyebrow and grabbed a handful of potato chips from a bowl on the coffee table, next to the remaining Timbits that Dagnýr had brought.  
  
"Yeah, I was starting to tell him about it at Tim's before you called. It involves, uh, Iceland." Dagnýr also had some chips. He nibbled them, and went on, "There's this silly rumor in my family that we're part-elf." Dagnýr rolled his eyes. "But, you know from my research, that I not only have theories about alternate universes, I have theories about alien contact. There are 'elf-like' beings in mythology and ancient artifacts from other places. Could be evidence of alien contact. So before my children get here..."  _There I go again, referring to it like it's gonna be a multiple birth._  "I want to do some research into this rumor and see if there's anything suggesting alien visitation in Iceland."  
  
Brian was very quiet for a few minutes, enough that it set Dagnýr on edge. Then Brian took a Timbit and dunked it in his own coffee - Dagnýr never understood why people do that, you get crumbs in it that way - before taking a bite. "Interesting," he said.  
  
"You sound..." Dagnýr made a vague gesture with his hands, and reached for a Timbit. "Like you're not impressed. Which I totally get, it's a silly idea..."  
  
Brian shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "It's not a silly idea. There is, indeed, much about these ancient artifacts and ancient civilizations that is quite curious. But I've always been of the mind that rather than these marvels being remnants of visitors from elsewhere, maybe there were more advanced lands right here, no aliens... just people no longer present on this Earth, vanished without a trace, or just a very few, miniscule traces, not enough for an observer to understand what they were observing."  
  
The pipe came around again. Brian took a deeper hit than before, and so did Dagnýr and Matt. Then Dagnýr said, "I don't quite agree with you. We have some artifacts of ancient humans. They were fairly primitive. I know the caveman is a stereotype, but really, they weren't building rockets and stuff."  
  
"You have even less evidence that would point in favor of spaceships having landed. Just because humans may have been primitive in one area, does not mean they were primitive the world over. Moreover, you  _assume_  that ancient humans had primitive technology because they weren't 'evolved' enough to 'build rockets and stuff'. You don't know that perhaps they might have faced some sort of catastrophe to send them that far down the technology chain." Brian sipped coffee and went on, "If there was a worldwide EMP, or some other event that disrupted your ability to use the technology that your life quite literally depends upon right now, there would be a mass die-off, and those who remained would likely be using Dark Age or even Stone Age, primitive technology, surviving as hunter-gatherers."  
  
"That's... morbid." Dagnýr cringed.  
  
"Moreover..." Brian held up an index finger. "You assume I was only talking about  _homo sapiens_. But there is provable scientific evidence that other types of  _homo_  did exist..."  
  
Matt started snickering, and then Dagnýr did too, not able to help it. It took a moment for Brian to catch on, and then he rolled his eyes, shaking his head, though his lips were quirked with quiet amusement.  
  
"We're adults, I swear," Dagnýr said.  
  
"Huh huh you said 'homo'," Matt said, imitating Butt-head from  _Beavis and Butt-head_.  
  
Dagnýr couldn't resist. "And yes, definitely different types of  _homo_  exist. There is the fabulous twink variety, there is the manly bear variety, there is the leather daddy variety, let's see, what else..."  
  
Brian threw a potato chip at Dagnýr, who caught it with his mouth.  
  
"Very impressive," Brian said. "But as I was saying... there is not just  _homo sapiens_. There was Lucy, the  _Australopithecus_."  
  
Dagnýr let out a low whistle. "Goddamn, you remember the name of that?  _And_  you're high?"  
  
"You would be surprised what I remember," Brian said mildly, sipping coffee.  
  
"Of course he'd remember this stuff," Matt joked. "Like, look at him. He knows alllll about ancient humans and ancient history because he was fucking  _there_."  
  
Dagnýr snorted coffee, which was intensely painful, and then laughed some more because he'd snorted coffee. He doubled over with silent laughter, his sides and face cramping, tears streaming out of his eyes. The high was running his humor reaction through an amplifier.  
  
Then Brian made it worse by joining in on the joke. "He's right, you know," he said, eyes twinkling.  
  
Dagnýr cracked up laughing again. "Ow. Dammit,  _ow._ "  
  
"Are you OK?" Matt asked, whacking him on the back. "Do I need to call a priest?"  
  
"Nah, a wizard will do," Dagnýr wheezed.   
  
"How may I assist you?" Brian joked.  
  
"Quick, Matt, get the d20!" Dagnýr yelled.  
  
"The 420?" Matt teased. "We already got that."  
  
Dagnýr kept laughing. Finally he calmed down a bit, and sat up, wiping his eyes.  _Time to get serious. ...Not._  "But yeah, so... back to ancient humans, and proto-humans."  
  
"Yes. And proto-humans that co-existed with other groups, such as Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. It's not outside the realm of possibility that maybe there was a more advanced type of human,  _homo luciferous_  I suppose we could call it." Brian leaned back.  
  
"Hm." Dagnýr finished his coffee. "Still not sure I buy it, but..." He wagged his finger. "As a scientist, I have to test and evaluate different possibilities. Keep an open mind, and all that."  
  
"Indeed." Brian nodded.  
  
"I don't know what this, um, elf hunt will turn up, if even anything at all. It could be just a rumor, just somebody with a wild imagination enhancing the family story." Dagnýr shrugged. "I won't know until I start looking things up."  
  
"You have the good fortune of being from a country that has kept close records of lineages since the Viking era," Brian said.  
  
"Yeah. But I also have the misfortune of most of the people I could talk to about family history being dead," Dagnýr said. "Though... I think there are a couple people."  
  
Matt raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I have an uncle in Australia, and an aunt in Scotland," Dagnýr said. "On my mother's side of the family. The aunt is closer to her in age, the uncle is a bit younger. I could try to get in contact with them, though which one..."  
  
"The aunt," Brian said.  
  
Dagnýr gave him a bemused look, and Brian said, "Your aunt was probably closer to your mother, and would be more sympathetic to contact from you if it's been awhile."  
  
Dagnýr  _sensed_  there was more to the statement than that - almost like Brian somehow  _knew_  something, but  _he couldn't, could he? what are the odds of him being Force sensitive like we are? he's just a math professor_.  
  
"But surely," Brian said, "you could look up your mother's brother as well. I think it would be good for you to get to know your family." Brian dunked another Timbit into his coffee. " _All_  your family." His eyes met Dagnýr's, like a challenge, before he took the Timbit out of the coffee cup and put it in his mouth. "Family is important."  
  
_Yours in particular,_  came a random voice in the back of Dagnýr's head - once again wondering if it was Brian.  _No come on, that's crazy._  "Family is indeed important," Dagnýr said, nodding. He thought of Sören across the pond, felt his distress even that far away, and reached out with the Force, giving his twin a telepathic hug.  
  
"I shall be interested in the results of your project," Brian said. "Silliness be damned, you should definitely do this research. Keep me posted on it."  
  
"Really? That's something that interests you?" Dagnýr raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, indeed. Iceland is a  _fascinating_  country. One of the most progressive countries in the world, and on the forefront of cutting-edge green technologies... irreligious, and yet something like sixty percent of their population believes in elves. Very rich history, beautiful landscape."  
  
"You've been there?"  
  
"Once or twice."  
  
Dagnýr found the wording of that response interesting.  
  
Brian continued, "But also, it's not simply that Iceland fascinates me... I admire your commitment to researching the veracity of this elf rumor in your family, whatever it turns up.  _Sapere aude_ , dare to know. Knowledge is power, and indeed, some of that power is from the courage it takes to discover, to tread the unknown and see where it leads. Especially if you are bringing children into the world, they should know more about where it is they come from, what they are or are not."  
  
There was a weight behind that statement, one that sent chills down Dagnýr's spine.  
  
Brian quickly changed the subject. "Whatever you're making, it smells good," Brian told Matt.  
  
"Thank you. I hope you enjoy it." Matt smiled.  
  
"Do you do all the cooking?"  
  
"No, Dag and I take turns, and tonight is my night." Matt put an arm around Dagnýr. "If I cook, he does the dishes and vice versa."  
  
"That's smart." Brian nodded. "It's nice to see a happy couple that is respectful of one another."  
  
"It's nice to see someone from your generation who isn't, you know..." Dagnýr frowned. "Uptight about gay people."  
  
"Just because I have not taken a companion for myself does not mean I cannot appreciate the value in it for others, and I have lived long enough to know that the one consistent thing about life - the thing that unites us across color, creed, language... and species, probably, from ancient human times on - ...it's that people need people." Brian looked out the window, as if he were looking at something far away. "It's not good to be alone in this world."  
  
While Brian was one of the more empathically quiet people that Dagnýr encountered - most people broadcasted loudly - Dagnýr could feel a lonely ache in him, but more than that, as if he was feeling sorry for someone else he knew, somewhere else.  
  
A silence hung over the room, and Matt finally shifted awkwardly in his seat and asked, "Does anybody want anything when I run to the kitchen? Water, juice, soda..."  
  
"Juice if you have it, thank you," Brian said.  
  
"I'll have a Sprite," Dagnýr said, suddenly thirsty.  
  
Matt nodded and got up.  
  
"These are interesting times, Dagnýr Sigurdsson," Brian said when they were alone in the room. "Dangerous times. The future is more uncertain now than it ever was. If you should bring children into this world, make sure that the bonds of your family are as strong as they can be. 'The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.'"  
  
Dagnýr found that a curiously timed admonishment, considering the dream he had, but again...  _coincidence._  It wasn't like Brian was wrong - every time Dagnýr watched the news, it was more depressing shit about what was going on in the US, or even the increasing unrest right here in Canada. He didn't know what the world would be like in a year, never mind five years, and the world was  _quite_  different than he could have imagined as a teenager in the 1990s, though there were still, blessedly, things that remained the same.  
  
Like Sprite. " _Takk_ ," Dagnýr said as he took the glass from Matt before Matt sit down, again lapsing into his first language without thinking about it, even though he defaulted so much to English the last several years that he thought in English as much as he thought in Icelandic.  
  
Brian raised his glass to Dagnýr, and winked before drinking, like he was in on some kind of cosmic secret.  
  
  
_  
  
After dinner, Olórin drove home in his grey Volkswagen. He'd considered telling Dagnýr then who he was - he certainly knew who and what Dagnýr was, and where he came from - but it wasn't the right time.  
  
Not yet.  
  
When he got in, his cats and dog started right away. "Yes, yes," he said to them. "I know it was  _exceedingly_  unfair of me to go elsewhere and have  _chicken_. You poor dears, who have been  _starving_  for two hours past your usual feeding time, how are you even still alive?"  
  
After the animals ate, they curled up with him on the couch, where Olórin performed his usual nightly ritual of watching the CBC news. His mind wandered during the sports segment, something that didn't interest him, though there was talk of English football and awards and the name "Justin Roberts" made his attention snap back, briefly.  
  
When a random name caught his attention, that usually meant trouble. Sometimes a good, fun kind of trouble. But in this case... not so much. Olórin shivered. There was a doom upon that name.  
  
He got up, startling the dog, and he walked to his bedroom. There was a walk-in closet inside his bedroom, which was designed to look smaller to any outside observers, with a rack of clothing closely placed inside it. But past this rack was the full closet; Olórin got on his knees, parted the hung trousers, and crawled through. He rose again, to where he had an altar table set up with a hollow book that held a few items, one of which was a  _palantir_ , covered in cloth.  
  
He took out the  _palantir_  now. "Macalaurë," he said, simply, and waited.  
  
The surface of the  _palantir_  swirled with mists, and then the mists parted. Olórin saw a bird's eye view of Iceland, that zoomed into a closer view of fjords, then closer still... a sleepy village with scattered houses and rolling hills. A friendly, fluffy sheepdog, and Macalaurë was walking him.  
  
Intensely sad, broadcasting distress and despair.  
  
Macalaurë walked by a cabin, looking through the window, like he was looking at something he wanted and couldn't have. There was a young man inside playing a game on a laptop, curly dark hair to his shoulders, beard and mustache, dark eyes and pale skin, full lips, Icelander by the looks of him.   
  
But also... something  _more_.   
  
_Ah._  Olórin's lips quirked with a small smile.  _The fire has indeed returned._

**Author's Note:**

> If this is of interest to anyone, I picture Dagnýr as looking similar to Paul Rudd:


End file.
